


maybe tomorrow

by VexingDeRolo



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia, Mostly canon except a few epilogue things I chose to ignore, Pike Centric POV, Post-Canon, Secret Relationship, Slow-ish burn, Vox Machina are loving saps, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000, rated T for discussion of/implied sex and some language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VexingDeRolo/pseuds/VexingDeRolo
Summary: Pike started from her thoughts when there was a soft, almost imperceptible creak at her door. Her heart quickening, she slowly reached for the dagger by her bed until –“Pike? Are you awake?”She let out a deep sigh of relief as she saw Scanlan’s face peer through the crack in the door. He clearly saw her looking at him, because he deftly slipped through the door and closed it gently behind him.ORFive times Pike and Scanlan snuck into each other's rooms, and the one time they were caught.
Relationships: Scanlan Shorthalt/Pike Trickfoot
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64





	maybe tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> i've been thinking a lot about pikelan lately and was bored so...
> 
> this is my first fic in about eight years and i didn't have anyone beta it, so apologies for any typos.
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

1.

Pike should be able to sleep. She should be exhausted, in fact. But feeling the minutes tick on and on as she lay silent and still in bed, she felt a weight growing in the pit of her stomach. The insanity of the past several days and having to rush to Grog’s rescue (she really needed to get those cards from him), though unexpected, had served as an excellent distraction from the trauma they had so recently experienced.

Yes, they had saved the world again. But their world was shattered.

The image of Vax walking slowly away from them, and towards the Raven Queen, drifted unwanted to the front of her mind, and Pike pulled her knees to her chest, attempting to hold back tears. She was quite good at healing wounds, but the look on Vex and Keyleth’s faces as they sat beside each other at dinner a few hours before were symptoms of a pain Pike could never hope to cure. Tonight, as they had all sat together in peace for the first time in months, she knew they were all thinking about, and dreading – the life without Vax’ildan that was coming in the days ahead. She remembered Vex and Keyleth’s hushed words and tight embrace as they all began to head towards bed, and she remembered Keyleth turning away from them all as she transformed into Minxy and bolted out into the night.

She couldn’t stop the tears now, and they began silently pouring down her face. Maybe one day they would be able to celebrate their victory, but for now, all she felt was grief.

\--

Pike started from her thoughts when there was a soft, almost imperceptible creak at her door. Her heart quickening, she slowly reached for the dagger by her bed until –

“Pike? Are you awake?”

She let out a deep sigh of relief as she saw Scanlan’s face peer through the crack in the door. He clearly saw her looking at him, because he deftly slipped through the door and closed it gently behind him.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” he said, staring sheepishly at her.

“No,” she sighed, placing the dagger back down on the bedside table, “You did scare me, though. Can’t you be a little less sneaky?”

“Ah, but I’m a master of stealth, Pikey-poo,” he said with a grin, and then laughed sadly. He was still standing with his back to the closed door.

“Well, if you going to come in, come in,” Pike said tersely, patting the empty space on the bed beside her. But as Scanlan came closer, and she was able to see the expression on his face, her voice softened. “You couldn’t sleep either, huh?”

“Yeah,” he groaned, plopping down on the bed beside her. “I just got back to my room, and I was feeling like shit, and then I remembered that it was the first time I’d really been alone since – well, you know.”

She nodded grimly.

“I should have been able to save him,” Scanlan muttered, mostly to himself. “I had the spell, it just -”

Pike put her hand on his, quieting him. “He made a deal with a god, Scanlan. I don’t think there was anything you could have done. Vax knew what he was doing, alright? He did it for us. And there’s no use beating yourself up over what could have been. Vax certainly wouldn’t want that.”

Scanlan let out a small sob, “I loved him, you know? I don’t think I told him enough. He knew Vex loved him, and Keyleth, and even you and Percy and Grog, but I don’t know… I don’t know if I made it clear how much he meant to me.” He then whispered, again, “ _I should have been able to save him_.”

Pike gently brushed a piece of hair from his face, knowing it wasn’t worth trying to convince him otherwise. Not tonight. He would forgive himself in time. They all would. But tonight was for grief, and that was okay.

“You should try to get some sleep. We both should,” Pike said to him, softly.

Scanlan nodded. “Could I… I mean, would you mind if… I stayed here?” he said, tentatively. Then barely giving Pike a beat to respond he started to get up from the bed, “No, of course not. I’m sorry. I’ll – “

Pike cut him off by grabbing his arm. “Of course you can. These beds Percy has are much to big for us anyways.”

He nodded, and slowly crawled in the bed beside her. They lay face to face in the dark, and Pike reached out to grab his hand.

“We’ll get through this,” she said, squeezing his hand tightly, “together.”

“One day at a time,” Scanlan added with a soft nod.

Pike wasn’t sure how long they laid there in silence, but she eventually felt herself drifting off to sleep, still clutching Scanlan’s hand.

2.

“ _Pike!”_

She bolted up in bed. It must have been a dream. No one had shouted her name like that, with such anguish, in months. Hurriedly lighting the lantern by her bed, she looked around the room, and shrieked when she saw Scanlan standing at the foot of her bed.

He was covered in blood.

“Gods! Scanlan! What happened to you?” she said, bolting out of bed to look him over.

“Just got in a bit of jam – no big deal.”

“No big deal? I haven’t seen or heard from you in weeks, and suddenly you appear in my room covered in blood? Seems like a big fucking deal to me.” She was running her hand along him, checking for broken bones or any other injuries beyond the ability of an old-fashioned Cure Wounds spell. “Well, although it looks like you’re pretty beat up, it’s nothing too major -” and then she snapped a cracked bone in his arm back into place.

Scanlan screamed.

“Shush,” Pike said exasperatedly, pumping a high level healing spell into him and watching the wounds close. She felt his arm. The bone had set well – good as new. “Please don’t wake the whole temple. I’m technically not supposed to have guests in my room.”

“Where exactly are we?” Scanlan said, collapsing into an armchair by the unlit fireplace.

“What do you mean? How did you get here if you don’t know where we are?” Pike was now bringing over the washbasin and towels, and she began gently cleaning the blood off of Scanlan.

“Saved myself a wish, just in case,” he said with a grin, “It was something like, ‘I wish to be in the room Pike is currently in.’ I was lucky it worked – didn’t have a lot of time to think through the details.”

Pike glared at him, “If you had that plan up your sleeve you must have known, something bad _could_ happen. What were you even doing?”

He held up a finger. “My question first! Where are we?”

“Vasselheim. Temple of Sarenrae. I’ve been here helping with the re-building efforts for about a month. Which you would _know_ ,” she said with a scowl, “if anyone had _heard_ from you in the past two months.”

Scanlan shrugged, “Just need some time to clear my head. I told Grog everything – figured he’d pass the message along.”

Pike rolled her eyes, and then sat back on her knees to admire her handiwork. His clothes where definitely ruined, but other than that he was, remarkably, healed.

“So,” she said, gathering the blood-soaked cloths off the floor, “other than finding the least effective way to tell your family where you are, what the hell have you been doing?”

“Ah, just traveling a bit, here and there. It’s actually very convenient that you’re in Vasselheim – I need to take this to Vanessa.” He pulled a gold amulet from his belt, “This thing was a bitch to get, but a least there will be a nice payout.”

“You’ve been doing jobs for the Slayer’s Take? How long have you been in the city?” Pike said, almost shouting at him. She had missed him so much, and he had been _here_.

“Relax! I thought you said we needed to be quiet,” he said, grabbing Pike’s arm and pulling her closer to him, and then continued in a softer voice. “I’ve only been here about a week, I promise.”

Pike glared at him.

“Promise! And I definitely would have come to see you if I knew you were here,” Scanlan said with a smile. “I was actually planning on heading back to Whitestone soon – just needed a little action before then.”

Pike sighed. Even if he was lying, she’d never be able to tell, so it was easiest just to forgive him. “Seems like more than just a little action to me,” she said. “What were you fighting anyway?”

“A naga,” he said, unimpressed. “Nasty one too. It was guarding a nice little horde. I wish I’d had time to look through it more, but I was, you know, _dying_. So, I just got what I needed and ran.”

“Shit,” Pike said, and began busying herself with making tea. She felt unable to sit still with Scanlan there. “Are the others you were with alright?” she added.

“Ummm, well…”

Pike looked up at Scanlan, and he was staring at his shoes.

“You went alone, didn’t you?” she growled, and considered throwing the teacup in her hand at his face. _What a self-important dumbass_ , she thought to herself.

“It would have been fine!” he said, hurriedly. “If it weren’t, you know, so strong. Or whatever.” He saw the look on Pike’s face, and quickly began to backpedal, “But hey, I’m good! That’s what matters, right?”

Pike shoved a cup of tea in his hand, “Don’t do something that stupid again. You know all of us are willing to get into a scuffle with you when you have the itch. Feeling all-powerful isn’t worth us losing another life.”

Scanlan’s face fell. “I know, I’m… I’m sorry.” He looked down at his cup of tea, “I just wanted to feel in control of something again, you know?”

She knew. It was why she was here in Vasselheim, working day and night on rebuilding the city, rather than in Whitestone with Percy and Vex, the joyful parents to be. The two of them had found a rhythm in the four months since Vecna’s defeat and, although she was thrilled to see them heal through the life they were building together, being around their bustling lives could be… rough.

“We’ve got to find our own paths in these new lives, Scanlan – I get that. Just please don’t let yours get you killed.”

He studied her, attempting the calculate her expression. “I can go back to the Take tonight, if you want.”

Pike laughed softly, “Oh no, sir. You are staying right here with me.” Grabbing his hand, she added, “I’m going to make sure you don’t do anything stupid for at least the next twelve hours.”

3.

“Wait here.”

Pike waited, as the massive green dragonborn who had led her to this place walked out of the room. The last few hours had been nothing short of thrilling, she chuckled to herself. After docking in Ank’Harel the previous day, she had gone on a mission to locate Scanlan through the seediest means possible. Sure, she _could_ have just contacted him with a spell to let him know she was in town, but this was much more fun.

It had been three months since he had surprised her in Vasselheim, and the month that followed had been one of the happiest she’d had in a long time. Pike and Scanlan had stuck together, darting around the continent at their own whim. They had picked up Grog and done a few more (less dangerous) jobs for the Slayer’s Take, visted Wilhand in Westruun, and spent many evenings laughing and reminiscing with the rest of their family in either Whitestone or Vesrah. It had been a joyful, carefree adventure, and Pike had not wanted to see it end.

But, as always, life happens. Kaylie had reached out to Scanlan about needed help with some business, and he immediately made his farewells, promising to be back by Winter’s Crest.

It had taken Pike about two weeks to remember why she didn’t enjoy spending long stretches of time in Whitestone without Scanlan around, so she had decided to join a crew and go sailing for a while. A decision that had eventually landed her here, to a seemingly abandoned warehouse in Ank’Harel hoping that the person she was about to see was, in fact, Scanlan.

The dragonborn returned and said, deeply, “The Meat Man will see you now.”

Pike had difficulty controlling her snort of laughter.

She was led into a small room where a familiar-looking human man was pouring over papers at an intricately carved desk. As the door opened, he snarled, “Who do you think you are, using the codes of my team and trying to find out my location when none of them know who you are? You will regret -”

He looked up and paused. Although Pike was not wearing the regalia associated with Vox Machina and her status as a hero, she had also not taken any great lengths to disguise herself. She was wearing simple sailor’s clothes with a dagger and her symbol of Sarenrae at her hip, and her long white hair was pulled back in a French braid. At the moment of recognition, the Meat Man gave a soft smirk and rolled his eyes.

“Trickfoot,” he said, attempting to sound menacing, “I should have known.” And then, turning to the dragonborn who had escorted her in, he added “Leave us. I can handle this.”

The moment the door clicked shut, he cackled with delight and tore off his hat of disguise. Finally, Scanlan stood before her, a massive grin across his face. Pike closed the distance between him and threw her arms around him.

Still laughing, Scanlan tightened the hug, and Pike felt her heart quicken. “You honestly made me a little nervous,” he said, releasing her and gesturing for her to sit in a chair by his desk, “I thought my cover had been blown. I guessed it might be you, but I didn’t account for you dressing like a newbie adventurer.”

Pike laughed, “Well, I’ve been sailing with a crew for about a month now and figured it would be best if they didn’t know _exactly_ how much I could do, or even who I was. So, I left a lot of my more powerful things with Vex for safekeeping.”

“So, you’re sailing again?”

Pike nodded. “Just for a little bit. I was missing the sea, and it sounded nice to not be me for a bit, you know?”

“I clearly do,” Scanlan said with a laugh, gesturing towards the hat of disguise on the table. “So, what brings you to Ank’Harel?”

“Oh, just a delivery,” Pike shrugged. “It’s a merchant ship. But I thought I might stay here with you and Kaylie until Winter’s Crest, if you don’t mind. I’ve never really gotten to see this city, and you speak so highly of it.”

Scanlan grinned widely at her words. “Of course! Kaylie will be happy to see you, and I’d love to show you the city.” He picked up the hat and started twirling it through his fingers. “I’m actually planning on hanging up the hat for good soon. Both Kaylie and I are a bit tired of the business, and she’s found a trustworthy friend who wants to buy the name and the look from us. In another week or so, it should all be settled, and the Meat Man will just be another criminal mastermind that I have absolutely nothing to do with. Hopefully then I can move on to,” he looked up at Pike, “more stable pursuits.”

She beamed, “All I hope is that means you won’t have to be darting off to Ank’Harel all the time – and I’ll get to see you more often. I’ve missed our little adventures.”

“Well, Miss Trickfoot,” Scanlan said, hoping up from his chair and offering Pike his hand, “We’ve got, what – maybe three weeks before we need to return to Whitestone? Let’s see what adventures we can have until then.”

4.

Pike and Scanlan’s (and often Kaylie’s) adventures in Ank’Harel were cut short when, a week before Winter’s Crest, Pike received a frantic message from Percy. The baby was coming.

Keyleth came to pick them up, and they all rushed back to Whitestone. After spending several hours with a quietly pacing Percy and a loudly cursing Vex’ahlia, Pike delivered their perfect, tiny baby girl.

 _Vesper_.

As Pike rocked the infant while Percy and Vex slept, she thought of the many, many more babies that were still to come in their little family. Mostly from Percy and Vex, to be sure, but she wouldn’t bet against anyone in the group become parents in the future.

Except maybe Grog. Although he was already taking his uncle duties _very_ seriously, Pike didn’t necessarily see him with children of his own. She smiled, remembering earlier, when Vex showed Grog how to hold the baby in his enormous hands while Percy hovered nervously nearby. And Scanlan, gently humming to Vesper while rocking the cradle. Scanlan was already a great dad, she thought with a smile, but she was sure he’d love to do it right from the beginning.

Confident that Vesper was deeply asleep, she quietly placed the infant back in her cradle and crept out of the room to find the others.

\--

The celebration she found upon entering the family dining room was the most joyous she had seen from this group in sometime. Scanlan was sitting on Grog’s shoulder, singing a joyous tune he was obviously making up on the spot. Keyleth and Cassandra where laughing hysterically at every line, and Taryon was filling up everyone’s glasses while telling a tale that no one was really listening too.

Scanlan smiled over at Pike as she entered the room, and Keyleth sprung up from her seat shouting, “Pike! The hero of the day!”

Walking over to sit between Keyleth and Tary, Pike noticed the many, _many_ empty bottles strewn across the room. “Vex and Vesper did most of the work,” she said with a smile, “I’m just glad I was able to help them on their way.”

She then turned to look at Tary, squeezing his arm. “It’s really, really good to see you, Tary. Now, please pour me a drink!”

Tary laughed, and obliged. “Can I go up and see them?” he asked.

Pike shook her head. “No, everyone is sleeping right now. But I’m sure Vex will be thrilled to see you in the morning. I don’t think she knew you were coming!”

“I messaged him!” Keyleth said before burping dramatically, forcing Cass into a fit of giggles. “And Allura and Kima and Gilmore and Kash and Zahra and Kerrick and my dad…” She had been counting on her fingers, and then paused. “I’m sure I’m forgetting someone, but I’m just so excited! It’s a _baby!_ And it’s Percy and Vex’s _baby!_ ”

Pike noticed the music change and looked up at Scanlan. He had started playing a gentler, more tender tune. She recognized it – it was her favorite. She also then realized it was the same song he had been humming to Vesper earlier that day.

\--

Celebrating the birth of their friends’ baby went long into the night. Percy appeared at one point, looking frazzled, but the group managed to convince him to join them for one drink before returning to bed.

At one point he whispered to himself, where only Pike could hear, “ _I’m a dad._ ”

She gave him a tight hug. “Yeah, you are,” she said, “And you’re going to be damn good at it.”

Slowly, the group began to disperse. Grog had long since passed out on the floor of the dining room, and the others heading off to their respective rooms, still beaming.

Back in her room, Pike stared at herself in the mirror, wondering why she didn’t feel happier. She _was_ happy for Percy and Vex – of course she was. But something about the day had left her feeling… empty.

She thought of Percy, whispering encouragement into Vex’s ear and holding onto her tightly throughout her labor, even when Vex was cursing loudly at him for putting this _thing_ inside _of her_. Unbidden, this thought shifted into the memory of Scanlan singing her favorite song throughout the day. But, she hadn’t ever told him it was her favorite, had she?

Pike had to move quickly, or she’d lose her nerve. Poking her head out of the room and checking to see if the coast was clear, she darted down the hall to Scanlan’s room. After knocking sharply twice, she slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Um, hi?” Scanlan was staring at her in utter confusion. He had clearly been in the middle of preparing for bed, dressed only in his undershirt and trousers standing in front of the washbasin. “What’s up?”

Pike’s head whirred as she tried to figure out what it was she wanted to say. “Uh, well. I was just wondering.”

Scanlan waited for a moment, and then asked, “…wondering what?”

She took a deep breath. “Wondering when we were going to talk about this.”

He looked at her blankly. “Again, Pike. I ask: what?”

“About us,” Pike said, quietly.

Scanlan’s eyes widened.

“I mean,” she added, tentatively at first, but then she felt the dam break. “You pursued me for ages. Aggressively, and sometimes annoyingly, but it was nice sometimes. Like I knew you wouldn’t really do anything without my consent, and no one had ever really looked at me that way before, so it was fun at times. And then we talked, and you told me you would stop, which I _also_ appreciated because it was very mature of you and it was nice to just be friends for a while. But _then_ recently we’ve been spending so much time together and its been wonderful, and I thought that maybe I could be in love with you but I haven’t been totally clear on how you feel about me, and now I just feel all mixed up and I’m probably making a fool of myself right now and –“

Scanlan walked over to her and took her hands, silencing her stream of consciousness. “Are you?” he asked.

“Am I what?” Pike said exasperatedly.

“In love with me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I am. Are you?”

He started. “What?”

“In love with me?”

Scanlan laughed, “I have been since the day I met you.”

“Well then,” Pike said, assuredly, although she was shaking a little. “What now?”

“Now?” Scanlan said with a grin, “Now’s the good part.”

Then he placed his hands gently on either side of her face and kissed her.

5.

“Pike? Are you listening to me?”

Pike snapped out of her daydream, thinking about the days at the beach that were to come. Looking around, though, she remembered she was still in Vex’s study with diagrams of seating charts all around her. “Nope, I was not at all, sorry,” she said to Vex. “What did you say?”

Vex sighed, exasperated. “I asked if you were planning on bringing anyone to the wedding.”

“What? No, of course not.” Pike replied, perhaps too quickly.

“You’ve just been traveling so much recently, so I wanted to check,” Vex said, in a manner that was trying (and failing) to be nonchalant.

“Vex, I’ve just been with Scanlan, not gallivanting across Tal’Dorei breaking hearts.”

“Mmhmm.” Vex was studying her intently. “Alright. Well, I’ve got you here at the head table between Grog and _Scanlan_ ,” she said pointedly, and then added, “Is there anything I need to know that might affect the rooming situation?”

Pike stared at her, attempting to keep her face expressionless. “Not that I can think of.”

\--

It wasn’t that they were _hiding_ their relationship from everyone, it just was they hadn’t bothered to _tell_ anyone yet.

For the first month or so, it was intentional. They weren’t entirely sure what their relationship was yet, and it didn’t seem worth it to tell the group only to have it not work out. Mostly, it wasn’t worth it to tell Grog if the relationship wasn’t going to work out.

But as the weeks went on, they found a rhythm, and Pike and Scanlan found that they genuinely enjoyed each other as romantic company. The sex was great, of course, but so were the gentle forehead kisses Scanlan gave her as she finished her prayers each morning and the evenings spent snuggled by a fire as Scanlan strummed gently at his lute. Until recently, Pike hadn’t really imagined what a life with Scanlan would be like, but she had found that it suited her. Suited both of them.

They really were going to tell their friends.

“We have to tell them this weekend,” Pike said to him as they were packing to head to Whitestone for a ‘family weekend’ (Vex had decided to mandate them every other month).

He smiled back at her, “Sure. I’ll follow your lead.”

But then, the first night at dinner, Vex had decided to announce that she and Percy were going to have a real, proper wedding in two months, and she expected them all in Bay of Gifts for the occasion.

Pike and Scanlan glanced at each other and made a silent agreement to wait. Though she was sure Vex would be gracious about it, Pike saw no reason to try and upstage her.

\--

This was how, several weeks later, Pike found herself in the predicament of creeping down the hall at Dalen’s Closet and _very slowly_ opening the door to Scanlan’s room. She shut the door as quietly as possible behind her and turned to see Scanlan sprawled across the bed in a (very short) purple silk robe.

“Heeelloooo, Pike,” he said in a mock sultry voice, wagging his eyebrows at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Vex knows. I’m sure she does.”

He sighed loudly and sat up on the bed. “What makes you think so this time?” Scanlan said, holding his hands out to her.

“Why else would she have put us on literally opposite sides of the hallway? It like she’s torturing me, making me sneak down this much hallway.”

Scanlan pulled her into his arms. “I’ll say it again. If Vex knew, she would be dropping obvious hints. That girl is not subtle.” Pike tried to interrupt, but he shushed her, “None of the things you’ve noticed so far are obvious. She might not have even picked where the rooms are! And, I’ll add, who cares if she knows? She’s going to know eventually.”

Pike snuggled up into his chest. “I just want them to find out on our terms, you know? And I don’t want them to think we’re hiding it from them.”

He laughed. “Problem is, my dear – we _are_ hiding it from them.”

Pike groaned and pulled the covers up over her head, “I just feel like the longer we wait, the madder they’ll be.”

Scanlan gently pulled the covers from her face and looked down at her with amusement. “Next family weekend, we’ll tell them,” he said, “Everyone will be together, and we’ll be past Vex and Percy’s big day. It’ll be perfect.”

Pike nodded. “Right, okay. Next family weekend.”

“And!” Scanlan added, “Tomorrow night I’ll sneak into your room, okay? Relieve some stress.”

She laughed, “Okay. Good plan. I like plans.”

He grinned down at her. “Now that’s settled, can we please enjoy this vacation a bit before we return to our stressful lives of having almost limitless money and no obvious responsibilities?”

Pike giggled, and threw her arms up around Scanlan’s neck to pulled him in for a kiss.

 _They would tell everyone_ , she thought. _Just not today._

\+ 1.

While their trip to the Bay of Gifts hadn’t necessarily gone as planned, Vex and Percy had gotten (officially) married and everyone was alive – even if they hadn’t been the entire time. Most of the wedding guests had left several days ago, but Vox Machina had stayed for some much needed beach time. Many joyful antics had ensued, and Pike and Scanlan had alternated sneaking down the hall every night to each other’s rooms.

However, tonight was their last night and, as Pike checked to make sure she had everything she needed to head down to Scanlan’s room, she found herself thinking about coming here together. Future Pike and Scanlan could lounge on the beach together, without any worry of being seen. Just the two of them. Or maybe three.

 _Wow, slow down, Pike_ , she thought to herself. But still, three sounded nice.

She gently opened her door and began creeping down the hall, hyper conscious of any noise. Grog’s snoring in the room next to hers provided excellent cover, but she still tried to keep her movements as quiet as possible. About halfway down the hall, she froze. There was movement in the shadows.

Pike’s mind began racing, trying to think of reasonable excuses in case it was one of her friends, until –

“ _Pike?”_ The whisper cut through the darkness. “ _Is that you?”_

She let out a sigh of relief. It was just Scanlan.

He came up close to her and laughed quietly as he brushed a piece of hair from her face. “I thought I was coming to you tonight.”

“No, remember? You came to me last night.”

“Ah, I guess you’re right,” he conceded, “No matter. Fancy meeting you here.”

He wrapped his hands around her waist and pushed her back towards the wall.

“Scanlan, we – “

He cut her off by kissing her deeply, bracing his hands against the wall on either side of her. She snaked her arms up around his neck, pulling him closer.

 _No matter,_ she thought. _Everyone’s in bed_.

However, as soon as this thought left her head, there was a soft cough behind them.

Pike and Scanlan froze.

“It is a lovely evening for a walk, isn’t it?”

They broke apart, and both turned to see Percy looking at them, a bemused smile across his face. “I myself went out to see the moons,” he added, pulling off his glasses to clean them, and then resting them pointedly back on his face. “You never know what surprises a full moon will bring.”

“Percy -” Scanlan said, taking a step forward, but Percy held up a hand.

“I don’t need any explanations from either of you. Just know that the longest I’ve ever been able to keep a secret from my wife is -” he paused for a moment, thinking, “about twelve hours. She’s a very perceptive woman, and quite persuasive. So, you have about that long to tell her yourself, if you want to.”

Pike and Scanlan nodded, still staring wide-eyed at Percy.

“Well, then, I’m off to bed,” he stated. “You two enjoy your evening.” After taking a few steps away from them, he paused and turned back. “I hope this isn’t too forward of me to ask, but when did this start, exactly?”

“Um,” Pike said, embarrassed to hear the nervous squeak in her voice, “About… around the time Vesper was born.”

Percy shook his head. “Damn. I guess I owe Vex some new arrows.”

**Author's Note:**

> largely inspired by ashley saying that pike and scanlan would have separate rooms in the second dalen's closet one-shot.
> 
> hope you enjoyed it! check back in eight years for another! XD


End file.
